Chapter 4 - The Agreement
By sunrise, nobody in the Moretti house had slept.
Vincent stood alone in the dining room.
The chandelier had been dimmed.
The table had been cleared except for the folder containing the unsigned agreement.
Lily’s crumpled paper sat beside it.
Two documents.
One polished and expensive.
One rescued from a wastebasket by a four-year-old chasing a stuffed rabbit.
The expensive document contained dozens of pages written by professionals.
The crumpled one contained a single word that mattered.
Truth had a strange sense of proportion.
Daniel entered carrying coffee.
“I found Claire.”
Vincent turned.
“Where?”
“Wisconsin.”
“Who is she?”
“Twenty-nine. Former administrative assistant at Bellini Holdings.”
“Bianca’s company.”
“Yes.”
“And pregnant?”
“According to public information, apparently.”
Vincent frowned.
“What public information?”
“A baby registry.”
Daniel handed him a tablet.
Claire Donovan.
Expected date: January.
Vincent did the arithmetic.
Sophia had claimed almost the same due date.
“Coincidence?”
“I stopped believing in those around three this morning.”
Daniel had also uncovered payments.
Bellini Holdings had transferred money to Claire monthly.
Not illegal.
Not necessarily suspicious.
Until Daniel found that several payments had been labeled “consulting,” although Claire had apparently stopped working months earlier.
Then came another discovery.
Sophia’s legal agreement contained language concerning a child “recognized and presented as lawful issue.”
Daniel tapped the phrase.
“This wording bothered me.”
“Why?”
“Because normal language would identify your biological child or Sophia's child. This is broader.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning someone was leaving room for a child whose origin might become complicated.”
Vincent stared at him.
“You think they intended to substitute Claire’s baby?”
“I think someone wanted options.”
The thought sickened him.
Not because of bloodlines.
Because a child had been turned into a line item.
“Find out who drafted that phrase.”
Daniel already had.
An attorney employed by Bellini Holdings.
Bianca.
Vincent called for Sophia.
She entered wearing the same ivory dress, though the perfection of the previous evening had disappeared. Her hair was loose. Her makeup had faded.
She looked exhausted.
“Where is Claire?” Vincent asked.
Sophia stared at him.
“So you know.”
“I know she exists.”
Sophia sat.
Vincent remained standing.
“Tell me everything.”
“I can't.”
“Then Daniel will.”
Her eyes shifted toward the attorney.
Daniel placed the photograph on the table.
Sophia’s face softened when she saw Claire.
That surprised Vincent.
Not fear.
Affection.
“She's my cousin,” Sophia said.
Vincent frowned.
“Your cousin?”
“My mother's sister’s daughter.”
“Why the alias?”
“It isn't an alias. Donovan is her married name.”
That explained part of it.
Not enough.
“Why use my address?”
Sophia looked ashamed.
“Bianca arranged her treatment through Malcolm. She didn't want her husband finding her.”
“Why?”
“Claire left him.”
Daniel said, “That still doesn't explain your test carrying Claire’s patient number.”
Sophia nodded.
“No. It doesn't.”
She folded her hands.
“I was pregnant.”
Vincent’s face changed.
“Was?”
Sophia’s eyes filled.
“For a very short time.”
Silence.
“I found out before I told you. I was so happy, Vincent.”
He said nothing.
“I took three tests. Then Bianca convinced me to announce it before the appointment. She said there was no reason to wait.”
Sophia wiped her cheek.
“At the appointment, Malcolm told me the pregnancy wasn't progressing.”
Vincent’s anger faltered.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I knew what that baby meant to you.”
“You thought lying would help?”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I panicked.”
Then Bianca offered a solution.
Claire was pregnant and leaving a difficult marriage.
Bianca suggested that Claire might allow Sophia and Vincent to adopt the baby privately.
At first Sophia refused.
Then Bianca began constructing a fantasy.
Nobody needed to know.
The dates were close.
Sophia could maintain the appearance of pregnancy.
After birth, paperwork could be handled discreetly.
Vincent would have the child he desperately wanted.
Claire would receive financial security.
Sophia would keep Vincent.
“And the agreement?” Vincent asked.
Sophia lowered her eyes.
“That was Bianca.”
“You signed off on it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she told me your family would take the baby from me if the truth came out.”
Vincent stared.
“And you believed her?”
“I believed what fear made convenient.”
That answer was at least honest.
Daniel asked, “Did Claire agree to this?”
Sophia immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Vincent’s expression sharpened.
“Then what exactly was your plan?”
“Bianca said she would convince her.”
The room became colder.
“Convince her how?”
“I don't know.”
Vincent believed Sophia was lying about that.
But before he could press further, Elena appeared.
“Mr. Moretti?”
She looked uncomfortable interrupting.
“What is it?”
“Someone is at the front gate.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
Vincent already knew.
“Claire?”
Elena nodded.
“She asked for Sophia.”
Sophia stood so quickly her chair struck the floor.
“Let her in.”
Vincent looked at her.
Sophia whispered, “Please.”
Ten minutes later Claire Donovan entered the library.
She was visibly pregnant.
She looked nothing like someone arriving to participate in a conspiracy.
She looked frightened.
Daniel offered her a chair.
She declined.
“I received a message from Bianca last night.”
Vincent frowned.
“What message?”
Claire handed him her phone.
Bianca had written:
THE PLAN IS FALLING APART. DO NOT COME TO THE ESTATE.
Vincent looked up.
“You came anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm tired of people making plans for my child.”
Sophia began crying.
“Claire—”
“No.”
Claire’s voice shook.
“You told me you wanted to adopt because you couldn't have a baby. You never told me you were pretending mine was already yours.”
Sophia went white.
Vincent turned toward her.
There was the missing piece.
Claire continued.
“I never agreed to give anyone my baby.”
Daniel asked about the payments.
“Bianca called them assistance. She knew I was struggling.”
“Did she ask you to sign anything?”
Claire nodded.
“She tried.”
“What?”
“I didn't understand it, so I took it to another attorney.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“And?”
“He told me not to sign.”
“Do you have it?”
Claire opened her purse.
“Yes.”
She handed Daniel a folded document.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His expression changed.
“Vincent.”
“What?”
“This isn't an adoption agreement.”
Sophia looked confused.
Daniel continued reading.
“It creates a trust.”
“For Claire’s baby?”
“No.”
He looked at Vincent.
“For whoever is legally recognized as your heir.”
Vincent felt the room tighten.
“And who controls it?”
Daniel turned to the final page.
There were three names.
Sophia Bellini.
Bianca Bellini.
And Malcolm Reed.
But underneath those names was a fourth signature line.
One Vincent had never seen before.
The proposed trustee was someone inside Moretti Holdings.
Someone with access to Vincent’s schedules, accounts and confidential records.
Someone who had attended dinner the previous evening.
Daniel whispered the name.
May you like
And Vincent finally understood that Sophia’s lie was only one piece of a much larger betrayal.
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